China regains top position as Vietnam's largest source of tourists

HANOI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- China surpassed South Korea to become Vietnam's largest source of tourists in May with 357,907 arrivals, or nearly 40 percent of all foreign visitors, local media has reported.

It marked the first time China regained its status as the biggest feeder market since it reopened its borders in March 2022, according to VnExpress.

Vietnam recorded more than 1.4 million international arrivals in May, a surge of 51 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office.

It raised the country's total number of international arrivals in the first five months to nearly 7.6 million, up 64.9 percent year on year and 3.9 percent higher than the pre-pandemic level of the same period in 2019, said the office.

During the cited period, most of the arrivals (6.3 million) were via air routes, accounting for 83.7 percent of the total, followed by road (1.1 million) and sea (162,400).

The majority of visitors from January to May came from Asia with over 5.8 million.

Favorable visa policies and attractive tourism stimulus programs in many localities were attributed to the rising number of foreign visitors to Vietnam, according to the office.